A point gained felt like a point lost as the Whale Toyota Bees had victory controversially prised from their grasp in a derby humdinger at Monmore Green last night.

A point gained felt like a point lost as the Whale Toyota Bees had victory controversially prised from their grasp in a derby humdinger at Monmore Green last night.

Bees were on course to become the first visiting team to win at Wolverhampton in the Elite League this year when they led 42-36 with two races left. They had supplied nine of the 13 race winners to that point, and were undeniably the better team.

But Wolves threw in Swedish siblings Mikael and Peter Karlsson as a double tactical substitution to drag back four points with a 5-1 in heat 14, and everything rested on the final race with Bees 43-41 ahead.

Once again the Karlsson brothers were at the tapes either side of Andreas Jonsson, and Bees skipper Billy Hamill parked on the outside grid.

You could almost touch the tension and the first running got no further than a cramped first turn, with Peter Karlsson appearing to help Hamill into the safety-fence with a considerable impact.

Hamill's bike was totalled in the crash but referee Graham Flint recalled all four riders and second time around Jonsson, who had posted three rapid wins in heats four, six and nine despite not feeling well, bombed away to lead Mikael Karlsson.

Peter Karlsson did his best to keep a bruised Hamill, riding his second bike, at the back, though a 3-3 would have secured a famous Bees victory. But on lap three, Jonsson lifted momentarily and was caught in mid-track, and it gave the chasing Mikael Karlsson just the chance he had been sniffing for.

The Wolverhampton No. 1 drove inside his fellow Swede on turn three to snatch a draw from the very jaws of defeat.

"I don't know if Peter Karlsson got caught up with Andreas on his inside but I am told he went straight and I just got put into the fence," said Hamill.

"It is not the first time it has happened to me at Wolverhampton, and it probably won't be the last either.

"There was a lot of pressure on both teams but it was a fantastic team effort to get a draw and we can be more than happy with that."

The tradition this fixture boasts for classic encounters was richly enhanced by another cut-and-thrust contest that kept a large crowd totally engrossed.

Bees were never more than two points behind, with Stuart Robson's exclusion in heat three, when he brought down Jesper B. Jensen while attempting to defend second place on the pits turn, seeing Wolves nose in front for the first time. But Jonsson and Ryan Fisher instantly levelled matters with a 4-2 in heat four.

Fisher's intrepid ride to squeeze through David Howe and Daniel Nermark on the third turn in heat eight maintained parity in a run of four shared races but Jonsson then pushed Peter Karlsson wide, and Tomas Topinka cut inside Jensen, for a Bees 4-2 in heat nine.

Wolves countered with a 5-1 in 10 to once more lead by two, but Bees appeared to have stolen a decisive march on their neighbours in heats 11, 12 and 13.

Hamill produced a sublime move on the first turn of lap two to join Billy Janniro for a 5-1 in 11, Lee Richardson and Fisher both had to graft for their points in a gutsy 4-2 in 12 and then heat 13 was a corker, passing and repassing eventually seeing Hamill defeat Mikael Karlsson and Jonsson finish third ahead of Paul Hurry, who petulantly squared up to the Swede at the end of the race.

It all added to the atmosphere, though inadvertently the 4-2 in 13 also handed Wolves the lever to implement their double tactical in 14, and salvage a draw they barely deserved.

* LEADERS Eastbourne were also held to a 45-45 draw at bottom of the table Belle Vue, but the aggregate bonus point means they extended their lead over Bees to five points ahead of tomorrow night's shoot-out between the top two at Brandon.